37 + max!
me, bullshitting something in an hour when I haven’t finished something in months
no content warnings, set somewhere in the beginning of max and tommy’s canon. ~400 words.
His sleepy voice came quietly, barely a whisper as it drifted up from the bottom bunk.
“This how you thought your life would be?”
Max frowned, her eyes fluttering open as she fought off the last dregs of sleep. The cabin was dimly lit, the first rays of the morning sun starting to peek through the makeshift boards they’d secured to the windows. Shifting under her blanket, she sighed.
“I, uh—“ she started, voice rough with sleep. “Can’t say this was the plan, no.”
She was greeted with silence, and for a moment she was worried she’d misheard him, somehow imagined his voice in the fringes of consciousness.
“Tommy?”
She heard him shift beneath her, all sighs and rustling clothing. He was restless, even more than he’d been before. The cabin was small, enough to drive anyone a bit stir crazy, but this was different. This was something else entirely.
“Hey—“
“What was?” he asked suddenly. “The plan, I mean. What was yours? Before... ya know. Before.”
That... was a good question. Even before the outbreak, she hadn’t thought about it. As early as she could remember, her future was in someone else’s hands: her parents, FEDRA, the Fireflies. For the first time in what felt like forever, it was her choice. Max sighed, teeth digging into her bottom lip as she considered her response.
“Wanted a family some day, I think,” she finally whispered back. “Little wedding, couple kids... It, uh—I know it sounds dumb now, but...”
“It ain’t dumb.”
Max froze, words slipping away at his sudden interruption. She hadn’t expected that—hadn’t expected a response at all, if she was being honest. It wasn’t something she’d ever said out loud, let alone allow herself to even daydream about. Max’s life had been a long string of necessity, always caring for others and putting them before herself. She wasn’t sure she knew how to want anymore. Not for herself.
He’d fallen silent again, seemingly satisfied with the response she’d given. The cabin had begun to light up in earnest now, a hazy golden glow lighting the dark corners of the room and bathing it in warmth. It’d been nearly a month since they’d arrived, but little by little it was beginning to feel like home.
This life hadn’t been her plan, but as she listened to Tommy’s breathing slow into a familiar,even pace below her, she thought maybe it was time for a new one.
